153 
.07  <b 


THE    INCREASE    OF 
TRUE    RELIGION 


CAMBRIDGE    UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
C.   F.  CLAY,  MANAGER 
FETTER  LANE,  E.C. 
:  100  PRINCES  STREET 


$*fo  iorfc:    G.   P.   PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Bombay  Calcutta  ant)  ifflafcrag:  MACMILLAN  AND  CO., 

a:   J.   M.   DENT  AND  SONS,  LTD 
THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 


LTD. 


All  rights  reserved 


THE    INCREASE   OF 
TRUE    RELIGION 


ADDRESSES  TO  THE  CLERGY  AND  CHURCH 
WORKERS  OF  THE  ARCHDEACONRY  OF  ELY 


BY 

W.   CUNNINGHAM,   D.D.,   F.B.A. 

Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  Archdeacon  of  Ely 


Cambridge : 

at  the  University  Press 

1917 


.- 


NOTE 

THESE  addresses  were  delivered  to  the 
clergy  and  lay  workers  of  the  Arch- 
deaconry of  Ely,  in  Little  S.  Mary's  Church, 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  National  Mission. 
It  seemed  worth  while  to  use  this  occasion 
for  trying  to  enforce  familiar  truths,  by  stating 
them  anew  with  the  object  of  bringing  their 
practical  character  into  prominence.  If  we  can 
appreciate  the  reality  of  the  Spiritual  more 
fully,  we  may  hope  to  have  the  sense  of  patriotic 
duty  strengthened,  and  thus  to  be  better  able 
to  do  our  personal  part  in  the  regeneration  of 
national  life. 


W.  C. 


TRINITY  COLLEGE,  CAMBRIDGE. 
February,  1917. 


365114 


CONTENTS 
I.    HUMAN  POWER  OF  KNOWING  TRUTH 

PAGE 

1.  AIDS  TO  RELIGION,  AND  THE  RESULTS  OF 

RELIGION i 

2.  DIFFERENT  SOURCES  OF  KNOWLEDGE  .      4 

3.  THE    UNFRUITFUL    STUDY    OF    EXTERNAL 

PHENOMENA       5 

4.  THE  INADEQUATE  DISCUSSION  OF  RELIGIOUS 

EXPERIENCE 6 

(a)  Knowledge  of  God  ...  7 

(b)  Knowledge  of  Self  ...  8 

5.  THE    CULTIVATION     OF    THE     POWER     OF 

KNOWING 10 

II.    RELIGIOUS  CONVICTION 

1.  RELIGIOUS     CONVICTION     AND     THOUGHTS 

ABOUT  GOD 12 

2.  THE  EXPRESSION  OF   THE   CONVICTION   OF 

SIN .        .     14 

3.  THE  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF   BEING  CALLED  TO 

BE  GOD'S  INSTRUMENT     .        .        .        .16 

4.  THE  CHRISTIAN  SENSE  OF  VOCATION  .     18 

5.  RESPECT  FOR  RELIGIOUS  CONVICTION,  AND 

TOLERATION 19 


viii  Contents 

III.    THE  SECRET  OF  HUMAN  PROGRESS 

PAGE 

1.  THE    CERTAINTY    OF    RELIGIOUS    EXPERI- 

ENCE   22 

2.  THE  UNIFORMITY  OF  NATURE  .  .24 

3.  THE  SENSE  OF  OBLIGATION  .  .  .25 

4.  THE  OFFERING  OF  HOMAGE  .  .  .26 

5.  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  GOD          .  .  .  .28 

IV.    THE  ATTRACTIVE  POWER  OF 
PERSONALITY 

1.  THE  ATTRACTIVE  POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL    .     34 

2.  THE  BLESSING  OF  GOD'S  SPIRIT  .        .        .36 

3.  THE  HOLY  COMMUNION         .         .        „         -     37 

4.  THE  HOLY  BIBLE 38 

5.  THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS         .         .         .40 

6.  THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  CHURCH  .         .     40 

BOOKS  AND  PAPERS,  CHIEFLY  ON  RELIGIOUS  SUB- 
JECTS, AND  SERMONS  BY  DR  CUNNINGHAM     .    43 


I.  HUMAN  POWER  OF 
KNOWING  TRUTH 

i.  The  petition,  Increase  in  us  true  Religion, 
from  the  collect  for  the  Seventh  Sunday  after 
Trinity,  not  only  sets  the  key-note  of  the  recent 
effort  to  call  us  to  repent  from  national  forgetful- 
ness  of  God  and  indifference  to  Him,  but  also 
serves  to  mark  out  the  nature  and  character  of 
our  task  in  trying  to  engage  with  fresh  activity 
in  Our  Master's  service.  Since  the  harvest  is 
great  and  the  labourers  are  few,  it  is  important 
that  our  endeavours  should  be  well  directed,  and 
aimed  at  that  which  is  essential ;  it  seems  worth 
while  for  us  to  think  for  a  little  about  true 
religion  and  what  it  really  is.  The  spiritual  life, 
as  Scupoli  says,  ''consists  in  nothing  else  but 
the  knowledge  of  the  goodness  and  the  greatness 
of  God,  and  of  our  nothingness  and  inclination  to 
all  evil1/'  There  are  so  many  things  which  are 
associated  with  religion,  as  helps  to  religion  or 

1  Scupoli,  The  Spiritual  Combat,  p.  4. 
C.I.  I 


2     Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth 

as  the  results  of  religion,  that  we  are  in  danger 
of  identifying  it  with  one  or  other  of  the  things 
with  which  it  is  associated,  instead  of  concentra- 
ting attention  on  religion  itself. 

The  confusion  is  very  common,  and  there  is 
much  to  excuse  it.  S.  James  points  to  kindly 
action  and  purity  of  life  as  the  signs  of  true 
religion — as  things  that  can  spring  from  no  other 
root;  but  in  our  age  and  in  our  country  this  is 
no  longer  the  case;  humanitarianism  and  self- 
discipline  are  admired  and  cultivated  by  many  to 
whom  religion  maizes  little  appeal,  sincethey  are 
not  conscious  of  it  as  a  power  in  their  own  lives. 
^E33iunrop^  has  been  much  in  evidence  in  recent 
years,  and  it  is  right  that  stress  should  be  laid 
upon  it ;  any  professedly  religious  man  who  neg- 
lects it  altogether  seems  to  show  that  his  religion 
is  vain.  The  stirring  of  this  sense  of  duty  should 
be  a  result  of  religion,  but  it  is  not  the  root  of  the 
matter. 

So  too  of  the  aids  to  religion.  There  are  men 
to  whom  the  musical  expression  of  praise  appeals 
very  strongly,  and  who,  since  they  feel  that  it 
rouses  devout  feeling  as  nothing  else  can  do,  de- 
vote great  care  to  the  cultivation  of  sacred  music ; 
but,  however  closely  sacred  music  may  be  asso- 
ciated with  Christian  worship,  it  is  not  to  be 
identified  with  religion;  the  improvement  of 
sacred  art  of  any  kind  is  not  necessarily  the 


Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth     3 

increase  of  true  religion.  When  there  is  so  much 
need  to  concentrate  our  efforts  on  the  increase  of 
religion  itself,  in  its  essence  and  power,  there  is 
a  waste  of  effort  in  giving  too  much  attention 
to  the  accompaniments  and  results  of  religion. 
Those  who  complain  that  Christianity  has  proved 
a  failure,  and  who  are  disappointed  that  the  recent 
Mission  has  not  been  more  fruitful,  may  surely 
ask  themselves  whether  they  have  not  been  relying 
on  external  influences  by  which  they  have  been 
distracted  from  dependence  on  spiritual  power 
alone. 

At  the  Reformation  when  the  collects  were 
translated,  Cranmer  added  the  epithet  true  to 
the  word  religion.  All  the  great  controversies 
of  the  day,  political  and  other,  were  about 
religion;  much  that  had  the  firmest  hold  upon 
popular  feeling  was  denounced  as  superstitious; 
strange  opinions  of  many  kinds  were  in  the  air, 
and  there  were  fanatics  who  seemed  ready  to  up- 
set the  fabric  of  society  in  the  name  of  religion. 
Since  religion  might  be  thus  associated  with  what 
was  superstitious  or  mischievous,  Cranmer  felt 
that  there  was  need  to  safeguard  the  expression 
in  a  form  of  Common  Prayer,  and  to  ask  for  the 
increase  of  true  religion  which  must  be  a  blessing 
to  each  Christian  man,  and  to  the  whole  com- 
munity; but  the  epithet  reminds  us  that  since 
that  time  there  has  been  the  greatest  difficulty 


4     Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth 

in  coming  to  any  agreement  as  to  the  test  of 
truth. 


2.  S.  Thomas  Aquinas  insisted,  as  against  the 
sceptics  of  his  day1,  that  the  intellect  is  personal 
and  individual,  and  that  there  is  no  necessary 
inconsistency  between  philosophy  and  the  faith2. 
While  we  hold  that  there  is  absolute  truth  in  the 
Divine  Mind,  we  may  recognise  differences  owing 
to  human  limitations,  in  the  degree  and  in  the 
manner  in  which  we  apprehend  it.  There  are 
different  realms  of  knowledge ;  and  since  we  can- 
not really  sever  our  minds  into  compartments  that 
are  absolutely  distinct,  we  should  perhaps  speak 
of  distinct  elements  in  knowing  rather  than  of 
different  kinds  of  knowledge ;  but  we  all  recognise 
that  there  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  knowledge  of 
the  outer  world  and  of  other  people,  which  reaches 
us  through  our  senses ;  and  that  besides  there  is 
immediate  knowledge,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  of 
our  own  states  of  mind — our  thoughts  and  feelings. 
The  one  is  the  realm  of  Natural  Science  where 
knowledge  is  accumulated  by  observation  of  the 
external  world,  and  built  up  steadily  bit  by  bit ; 
while  religion  is  primarily  concerned  with  the 
inner  life — with  the  heart  as  well  as  the  mind, 

1  Renan,  Averroes,  107,  192. 

2  De   unitate   intellectus,    contra   Averroistas    in   Opera 
(1787),  xix.  252. 


Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth     5 

with  desires  and  feelings  as  well  as  convictions. 
These  aspects  of  knowledge  cannot  be  separated 
by  any  hard  and  fast  line1;  they  are  closely 
inter-connected,  but  we  are  apt  to  fall  into  error 
if  we  pursue  either  of  them  exclusively  and  dis- 
regard the  other,  or  if  we  confuse  them  together. 

3.  In  the  time  of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas  there 
was  a  tendency  to  treat  religion  as  supreme, 
as  giving  the  standpoint  from  which  the  world 
should  always  be  viewed;  empirical  knowledge 
was  regarded  as  quite  subordinate,  and  was 
treated  in  terms  of  a  philosophy  that  was  con- 
sonant with  religious  thought.  On  this  account 
little  progress  was  made  during  the  Middle  Ages 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  world  around  us.  There 
was  much  careful  observation  of  the  stars  in  the 
casting  of  nativities ;  the  planets  were  thought  of 
as  the  agents  by  which  God  controlled  the  des- 
tinies of  man,  and  astrologers  tried  to  detect  the 
forces  which  were  at  work  in  each  human  life. 
There  was  much  examination  of  plants  and  their 
properties,  with  the  view  of  detecting  the  signa- 
tures with  which  God  had  marked  them,  so  that 
men  might  learn  what  practical  human  needs 

1  Harnack  appears  to  regard  the  sphere  of  religion  as 
personal  and  subjective,  and  completely  separate  from 
history  and  science,  which  deal  with  external  evidence. 
What  is  Christianity?,  27. 


6     Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth 

they  were  divinely  intended  to  subserve.  But  the 
attempt  to  interpret  the  details  of  Astronomy 
and  Botany  by  the  direct  light  of  religion  proved 
unfruitful  and  misleading.  It  led  to  a  disparage- 
ment of  the  method  of  study  which  has  given  us 
an  accurate  knowledge  of  some  natural  forces, 
and  has  thus  increased  our  power  over  Nature. 
This  characteristic  defect  of  medieval  thinking 
has  almost  entirely  passed  away  in  modern 
times ;  though  there  is  sometimes  a  suspicion  of 
its  recurrence,  and  Bergson  has  been  charged 
with  an  "exaggerated  subjectivism1"  in  treating 
our  knowledge  of  the  world  around  us. 

4.     Our  temptation  in  the  present  day  is  the 
opposite  one  of  attaching  undue  importance  to 
knowledge  that  comes  from  without.     The  ad- 
vance in  our  knowledge  of  the  world  around  us, 
during  the  last  three  centuries,  has  been  extra- 
ordinary;   and  with  it  there  has  been  unprece- 
dented   progress    in    industrial    power    and    the 
I  development  of  the  resources  of  the  world.     We 
i  are  inclined  to  take  human  experience  of  the 
i  world  around  us,  as  the  only  type  of  knowledg^ 
that   is  worth    having;     and  we    endeavour   to 
employ  scientific  ways  of  thinking,  and  to  bring 

1  T.  J.  Gerrard,  Bergson,  33.  A  similar  objection  is 
raised  from  a  very  different  standpoint  by  Elliott,  Modern 
Science  and  the  Illusions  of  Prof  .  Bergson,  52. 


Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth     7 

religious  truth  into  line  with  the  intellectual 
habits  of  the  day.  This  standpoint  was  adopted 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  and  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  by  the  English  Deists,  and 
it  lies  at  the  root  of  the  great  development  of 
scientific  theology  in  Germany  in  modern  times1. 
But  I  venture  to  think  that  this  whole  habit  of 
thought  is  defective.  Just  as  the  religious  aspect 
was  over  accentuated  in  the  Middle  Ageb,  and  was 
inappropriate  to  the  pursuit  of  empirical  science, 
so  the  phraseology  of  the  Deists  and  their  succes- 
sors appears  to  be  inadequate  to  express  religious 
truth.  Religion  is  the  conscious  relationship  be- 
tween a  human  person  and  a  personal  God ;  intel- 
lectual abstractions  do  not  convey  all  that  is 
contained  in  spiritual  realities. 

(a)  If  we  start  from  our  knowledge  of  things 
around  us  and  go  back  and  back,  we  get  to  the 
notion  of  a  Great  First  Cause,  as  an  ultimate  ex- 
planation ;  God  is  thought  of  as  infinitely  removed 
from  man,  but  this  does  not  help  us  to  realise 
the  fulness  of  the  Divine  Life.  There  is  a  false 
spirituality  in  setting  the  intellect  to  work  to 
frame  conceptions  of  the  power  of  a  God,  who  is 
infinitely  above  us,  instead  of  dwelling  on  the 
character  of  the  God  in  whom  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being. 

1  Tholuck,   Vermischte  Schriften,  n.  23 — 32;    Semler, 
Lebensbeschreibung,  I.  211,  282.  I 


8     Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth 

(b)  Similarly,  man's  ordinary  attitude  of 
mind  towards  the  world  about  him  is  that  of  a 
looker  on;  he  can  isolate  and  concentrate  his 
attention,  and  analyse  the  phenomena  presented 
to  him.  The  great  physical  forces,  of  which  we 
feel  the  effects,  are  beyond  our  control;  and  in 
any  branch  of  scientific  enquiry,  personal  tem- 
perament and  idiosyncracies  are,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, to  be  laid  aside ;  we  try  to  reach  principles 
that  are  common  to  all  alike.  The  pursuit  of 
scientific  knowledge  is  impersonal;  it  may  give 
the  opportunity  for  developing  particular  skill  of 
mind  or  body,  but  it  has  little  bearing  on  the  man 
as  a  whole,  his  personality  and  character1.  And 
so  it  cannot  give  the  best  basis  for  describing 
and  discussing  religious  experience,  which  is  in- 
tensely personal.  This  is  exemplified  by  S.  Paul 
when  he  cried,  0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death ?... /  see 
another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the 
law  of  my  mind.  The  Deist  cannot,  from  his 
point  of  view,  really  grasp  spiritual  realities ;  his 
conception  of  a  Great  First  Cause  is  but  a  poor 
shadow  of  the  God  whom  we  worship,  and  he 
thinks  of  man  as  a  mere  looker  on,  not  as  taking 
a  personal  part,,  and  having  personal  experience. 
Religion  has  to  do  with  the  relation  between  God 
and  Man;  and  Deism  does  not  give  us  a  stand- 
1  Lotze,  Microcosmus  (English  Translation),  i.  156. 


Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth     9 

point  from  which  the  relations  between  the 
Supreme  Being  and  the  man  personally  can  be 
adequately  discussed.  "The  highest  concep- 
tions of  God  seem  to  approximate  to  one  of  two 
types,  which,  without  prejudice,  and  merely  for 
convenience,  I  may  respectively  call  the  religious 
and  the  metaphysical.  The  metaphysical  con- 
ception emphasises  His  all-inclusive  unity.  The 
religious  type  emphasises  His  ethical  personality. 
The  metaphysical  type  tends  to  regard  Him  as 
the  logical  glue  which  holds  multiplicity  together 
and  makes  it  intelligible.  The  religious  type 
willingly  turns  away  from  such  speculations  about 
the  Absolute,  to  love  and  worship  a  Spirit  among 
spirits1/'  A  sense  of  personal  obligation  is  involved 
in  the  practice  of  religion — obligation  to  acknow- 
ledge God  and  obligation  to  obey  Him ;  and  those 
who  are  absorbed  in  the  observation  and  analysis 
of  external  conditions,  have  no  terms  by  which  to 
account  for  the  genesis  of  this  sense  of  personal 
obligation. 

True  Religion  is  primarily  concerned  with  the 
world  within ;  and  if  we  are  to  think  of  it  clearly 
and  promote  its  activity,  we  must  use  appropriate 
terms,  and  not  look  at  it  in  the  same  way  as 
we  do  upon  the  world  without.  Religion  must 
be  for  us  not  merely  a  group  of  things  that  men 
did,  or  the  opinions  they  cherished,  in  the  past; 
1  A.  J.  Balfour,  Theism  and  Humanism,  19. 


io    Human  Power  ~of  Knowing  Truth 

but  something  living,  that  we  know  to  be  living 
because  we  have  felt  its  power. 

5.  Perhaps  we  may  most  easily  discriminate 
between  the  knowledge  of  the  world  without  and 
of  the  world  within,  when  we  think  of  the  aims 
for  which  they  are  respectively  pursued.  Know- 
ledge of  the  world  without  is  pursued  for  the 
sake  of  accumulating  information  and  getting 
power  over  other  things  and  other  men;  it  re- 
sults in  knowing  more  things.  But  the  object  of 
the  cultivation  of  religion  lies  within ;  in  a  change 
in  the  character  of  the  man  himself,  and  his  per- 
sonal habits  of  thought  and  speech  and  action. 
Such  a  change  is  not  brought  about  by  acquiring 
fresh  information  but  by  association  with  the  best 
we  know.  "The  secret  of  goodness  and  greatness 
is  in  choosing  whom  you  will  approach  and  live 
with,  in  memory  or  imagination,  through  the 
crowding  obvious  people  that  seem  to  live  with 
you1."  The  Christian  religion  tells  us  not  merely 
of  a  Great  First  Cause,  but  of  a  Heavenly  Father, 
who  has  provided  for  our  deepest  needs  through 
His  Son  by  the  Spirit,  and  with  whom  we  may 
have  intercourse.  In  communion  with  God  we 
may  become  more  like  Him,  and  learn  to  look  at 
things  with  His  eyes,  so  as  to  have  a  sense  of 
proportion,  undistracted  by  passion  and  temper a- 
1  Browning,  Letters,  u.  318. 


Human  Power  of  Knowing  Truth     1 1 

ment,  a  persistency  in  going  on  with  the  best  we 
know,  and  such  insight  to  understand  others,  that 
we  may  be  able  to  enter  into  their  point  of  view 
and  make  allowance  for  their  limitations.  It  is 
thus  that  we  may,  not  merely  accumulate  a  know- 
ledge of  things,  but  cultivate  our  own  power  of 
knowing  aright* 

For  the  increase  of  true  religion  we  must  look 
both  at  the  world  without,  and  at  experience 
within.  The  experience  of  the  holy  men  of  old 
has  been  recorded  for  us  in  books,  and  their  doings 
have  been  set  before  us  in  histories ;  we  dare  not 
neglect  these  aids  to  religion.  They  tell  us  what  has 
been  known  in  the  past  of  God  and  His  relations 
with  Man.  But  we  shall  appreciate  the  recorded 
religious  experience  of  the  past  most  truly,  if  we 
look  at  it,  not  with  the  detached  observation  of 
the  scientific  on-looker,  but  from  the  standpoint 
of  religious  experience  in  the  present  day,  com- 
paring spiritual  things  with  spiritual,  and  thus 
cultivating  a  greater  power  of  knowing  the  best 
that  can  be  known. 


II.     RELIGIOUS   CONVICTION 

i.  There  is  a  natural  tendency  to  regard  what 
goes  on  in  the  world  around  us  as  real,  since  it 
persists  after  our  little  lives  are  over,  and  to  treat 
the  world  within  as  fanciful  and  arbitrary,  per- 
haps illusory.  But  on  more  careful  examination 
we  may  perceive,  as  Descartes  did  long  ago,  that 
the  fullest  certainty  to  which  we  can  attain  is 
that  of  the  existence  of  a  self-conscious  intelli- 
gence, a  fact  that  is  given  by  inner  experience, 
Cogito  ergo  sum.  From  this  starting  point  philo- 
sophy has,  for  the  last  three  hundred  years,  in- 
vestigated the  possibilities  of  knowing ;  but  after 
all,  there  are  other  sides  of  human  nature  that 
ought  to  be  taken  into  account.  Man  is  self- 
conscious,  and  he  is  Will,  as  well  as  Intelligence. 
There  are  many  who,  like  Goethe,  pride  them- 
selves, not  on  the  power  of  knowing  which  they 
share  with  all  the  world,  but  on  the  capacity  of 
feeling  which  is  personal  to  themselves;  they 
concern  themselves  chiefly  with  their  own  self- 
development.  Others,  in  this  practical  age,  are 
taken  up  with  what  they  can  do,  and  have  little 
interest  in  the  theory  of  knowledge.  Thus  the 


Religious  Conviction  13 

study  of  Will  and  Purpose  has  come  to  be  very 
prominent  in  recent  years,  both  in  the  Voluntary- 
ism of  France,  and  the  Pragmatism  which  has  had 
great  popularity  in  America,  and  has  roused  such 
interesting  controversy  in  this  country.  Pragma- 
tism can  certainly  claim  to  be  an  instructive 
supplement  to  the  intellectual  theory  of  know- 
ledge, even  if  it  is  not  accepted  as  a  substitute1. 
The  consciousness  of  myself  as  willing,  brings  into 
clearer  light  the  not-self  which  is  involved  in 
every  act  of  self -consciousness2.  We  are  aware 
at  times  that  our  exercise  of  will  is  favoured  by 
circumstances,  as  when  the  skater  feels  the  wind 
behind  him,  and  is  carried  along ;  or  on  the  other 
hand  we  may  feel  that  things  are  against  us,  and 
that  the  exercise  of  our  will  is  limited  and  opposed 
by  things  we  cannot  control.  In  primitive  times 
and  heathen  countries,  men  think  of  the  world 
around  them  as  capricious  and  hostile,  arbitrary 
and  antagonistic,  and  of  the  powers  that  rule  it 
as  beings  that  must  be  propitiated  one  by  one. 
But  a  better  understanding  of  the  world  lends 
itself  to  a  different  religious  attitude ;  those  who 
think  of  the  world  as  governed  by  one  Ruler,  are 
on  the  plane  of  thought  on  which  religious  experi- 

1  Similarly,  those  who  accept  pragmatism  as  a  doctrine 
of  truth,  under  mundane  conditions,  may  desire  a  better 
rational  basis  for  their  belief  in  continued  existence  apart 
from  mundane  conditions. 

2  J.  Ward,  Realm  of  Ends ,  237. 


14  Religious  Conviction 

ence  becomes  possible,  since  they  may  become 
conscious  of  their  relationship  to  Him.  Religious 
conviction — the  sense  of  personal  relationship  to 
God — may  be  awakened  by  any  trivial  incident 
which  makes  men  feel  that  they  are  themselves 
in  opposition  to  His  rule  and  His  Will ;  or  on  the 
other  hand  they  may  enjoy  the  sense  of  being 
personally  in  harmony  with  the  Power  that  rules 
the  world.  Such  a  conviction  possesses  the  high- 
est degree  of  certainty ;  it  cannot  be  affected  by 
argument;  while  the  thoughts  about  God  which 
depend  on  the  experience  of  others1  have  no  such 
certainty. 

2.  The  sense  of  sin  is  the  most  common  of 
all  religious  convictions :  sin  is  felt  as  an  oppressive 
burden  by  men  of  diverse  creeds,  and  we  have 
abundant  evidence  of  the  difficulty  of  expressing 
this  conviction.  The  feeling  of  coming  into  close 
relationship  with  the  absolutely  good  is  over- 
whelming; not  everyone,  perhaps  not  any  one, 
has  the  power  of  thinking  out  fully  what  it  means, 
or  the  power  of  putting  it  into  words.  The  lan- 
guage of  such  a  man  as  John  Bunyan  seems  to  be 
exaggerated ;  but  he  himself  would  have  regarded 
it  as  inadequate,  and  a  feeble  attempt  to  find 
words  to  describe  what  he  himself  had  felt.  This 
conviction  of  sin  and  of  the  need  of  forgiveness 
1  S.  John  iv.  42. 


Religious  Conviction  15 

is  an  experience  that  is  common  to  multitudes 
of  men;  there  is  a  ground  of  sympathy  be- 
tween all  who  have  felt  this  conviction;  but 
differences  of  circumstances  and  temperament 
will  affect  the  mode  in  which  they  each  endeavour 
to  say  what  they  have  experienced.  The  most 
admirable  expressions  of  the  sense  of  sin  are  to  be 
found  in  the  penitential  Psalms,  and  they  appeal 
to  devout  men  in  every  age.  The  precise  mode 
of  expression  adopted,  the  phraseology  and  the 
imagery  used,  are  well  worthy  of  careful  investi- 
gation, because  we  can  read  through  them  to  a 
personal  experience,  which  is  more  or  less  appro- 
priately indicated  but  can  never  be  fully  uttered. 
Minute  examination  of  the  time  and  circum- 
stances and  language,  in  which  a  religious  con- 
viction is  expressed,  amply  repays  us,  if  it  gives 
us  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  person,  and  of 
the  experience  he  endeavoured  to  describe. 

It  is  in  the  Psalms  too  that  we  find  the  classic 
expression  of  that  other  experience,  the  sense 
of  restored  harmony  with  the  Universe  and  its 
Ruler — the  assurance  of  forgiveness — the  blessed- 
ness of  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  doth  not 
impute  his  sin.  The  sense  of  pardon  is  an  ex- 
perience which  each  and  all  of  the  saints  of  God 
have  enjoyed;  they  have  had  similar  spiritual 
experience,  though  the  modes  of  expressing  it, 
depending  as  they  do  on  differences  of  intel- 


1 6  Religious  Conviction 

lectual  power  and  of  temperament,  may  be  very 
dissimilar. 

In  these  religious  convictions — the  sense  of  sin 
and  the  assurance  of  forgiveness — however  they 
are  expressed,  certain  intellectual  beliefs  are  in- 
volved. These  convictions  imply  a  theistic  belief 
in  a  Ruler  to  whom  men  are  under  obligations, 
and  in  the  keeping  of  whose  Law  they  have 
failed ;  and  a  reliance  on  His  character  and  good- 
ness is  also  involved.  He  that  cometh  to  God  must 
believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them 
that  diligently  seek  Him.  One  name  stands  out  as 
typical  of  the  men  who  have  believed  in  the  trust- 
worthiness of  God.  Abraham  believed  God,  and 
it  was  imputed  unto  Him  for  righteousness  ;  and  he 
was  called  the  Friend  of  God.  However  mysterious 
the  incidents  which  gave  rise  to  this  conviction 
may  seem,  we  at  least  feel  that  Abraham  is  set 
before  us  in  the  Old  Testament  as  a  man  who  was 
fully  convinced  that  he  might  rely  upon  God,  as 
a  keeper  of  Covenants, — not  merely  as  one  who 
would  favour  him  in  his  own  life,  but  as  one  who 
could  be  trusted  through  all  generations. 

3.  Another  form  of  religious  conviction  is 
frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  from 
the  time  of  Moses  onwards.  Closely  associated 
with  the  belief  that  the  world  is  governed  by  One 
God,  and  that  His  purpose  is  being  slowly  realised, 


Religious  Conviction  17 

is  the  belief  that  He  uses  men  as  His  instruments, 
conscious  or  unconscious,  for  carrying  out  that 
purpose.  We  see  how  with  Moses  at  the  Burning 
Bush,  and  with  one  after  another  of  the  prophets, 
the  awakening  to  the  conviction  that  they  were 
themselves  called  to  be  the  instruments  of  God, 
was  the  great  crisis  of  their  lives.  To  think  that 
God  uses  men  as  His  instruments  may  be  quite 
uninspiring;  but  the  man,  who  awakens  to  the 
conviction  that  he  is  himself  called  to  be  God's 
instrument,  becomes  conscious  of  a  great  trust 
confided  to  him,  and  of  his  personal  inability  to 
fulfil  that  task.  This  sense  of  the  greatness  of 
the  vocation  comes  out  in  the  reluctance  with 
which  Moses  set  out  on  the  work  of  delivering 
Israel  from  bondage  in  Egypt.  We  may  also 
gather  it  from  the  picture  we  have  of  David  as 
the  shepherd  whose  business  it  was  to  care  for 
God's  people:  this  was  the  trust  that  was  laid 
upon  him  by  God,  the  task  for  which  he  was 
trained.  In  the  story  of  Solomon  we  see  how 
much  the  sense  of  responsibility  to,  God  in  the 
discharge  of  his  royal  duties  weighed  upon  the 
child  who  succeeded  to  the  Kingship. 

This  sense  of  vocation  seems  first  of  all  to  have 
been  recognised,  as  we  gather  from  the  Bible 
story,  in  connection  with  what  we  should  call 
political  changes, — the  migration  of  Israel  from 
Egypt  and  the  establishment  of  an  independent 

C.I.  2 


1 8  Religious  Conviction 

political  community.  Besides  the  founders  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  men  arose  from  time  to  time  to 
intervene  in  the  affairs  of  the  community  with  a 
special  message  from  God.  The  sense  of  vocation 
was  a  wonderful  experience  that  came  to  each  of 
the  prophets  and  marked  them  out  from  other 
folk.  There  were  many  men  who  had  religious 
thoughts  but  who  were  without  sense  of  vocation. 
In  Ecclesiasticus  there  is  a  great  deal  of  beautiful 
and  exalted  thought  about  God,  but  the  writer  was 
regarded  as  a  mere  compiler  and  imitator  though 
also  "as  a  man  of  great  diligence  among  the 
Hebrews  who  did  not  only  gather  the  grave  and 
short  sentences  of  wise  men  that  had  been  before 
him,  but  himself  also  uttered  some  of  his  own, 
full  of  much  understanding  and  wisdom1/'  Nor 
did  the  editor  claim  for  himself  that  he  had  any 
special  message  to  give;  he  does  not  claim  to 
have  had  the  religious  experience  of  an  Amos,  or 
an  Isaiah  or  an  Ezekiel,  and  to  be  convinced  of 
a  personal  vocation  as  the  Messenger  of  God. 

4.  It  is  the  glory  of  Christianity,  as  distin- 
guished from  all  other  religions  however  noble, 
that  it  has  rendered  this  conviction  of  vocation 
— this  consciousness  of  being  trusted  by  God  as 
His  instrument — attainable  by  all  mankind.  The 
conviction  of  being  a  chosen  instrument  of  God 

1  Ecclesiasticus,  Prologue. 


Religious  Conviction  19 

was  very  exceptional  under  the  old  dispensation ; 
few  could  aspire  to  it.  For  the  ordinary  Israelite 
it  was  enough  to  play  his  part  among  a  divinely 
chosen  people,  and  to  conform  to  the  Law  which 
God  had  given  for  that  people.  The  Israelites 
had  little  consciousness  of  any  relationship  to 
God  apart  from  the  nation,  or  any  personal  and 
habitual  obligations  to  God  beyond  those  laid 
down  for  the  people;  but  Christianity  called  all 
men  to  the  personal  religious  experience  of  the 
remission  of  sins  and  the  personal  obligation  to 
give  effect  to  the  purpose  of  God.  At  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  the  aspiration  of  the  prophet  Joel  was 
realised.  /  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh. 
The  revelation  which  our  Lord  gave  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  and  of  His  care  for  each  one  of  His 
family,  made  it  possible  for  each  and  all  to  be 
conscious  of  a  vocation  to  fulfil  God's  Will  in  his 
place  in  the  world,  and  to  be  the  instrument  of 
giving  effect  to  His  purpose. 

5.  Religious  conviction  is  often  imperfectly 
expressed ;  and  it  also  involves  intellectual  ele- 
ments which  have  no  immunity  from  error;  the 
mere  fact  that  there  has  been  progress  in  the 
knowledge  of  God,  implies  that  there  has  been 
misconception  and  error  in  the  past ;  at  the  times 
of  this  ignorance  God  winked;  and  there  are 
limits  to  any  spiritual  insight  now.  A  man  may 


2O  Religious  Conviction 

mistake  God's  purpose,  and  mistake  the  means  by 
which  it  is  to  be  attained;  he  may  be  wrong 
about  the  task  assigned  him.  Even  though  he 
has  a  strong  belief  as  to  his  religious  duty,  he  may 
be  in  error,  like  Saul  when  he  went  forth  to 
Damascus  to  persecute.  But  even  so,  it  is  com- 
monly and  rightly  felt  nowadays  that  religious 
conviction  is  a  thing  to  be  respected,  even  when 
it  seems  to  be  mistaken  and  mischievous.  The 
religious  man  claims  to  hold  by  the  truth  of  God ; 
it  is  possible  that  his  claim  may  prove  well 
founded,  mistaken  though  it  seems.  Gamaliel 
expressed  what  has  come  to  be  the  popular  feel- 
ing on  the  subject.  He  regarded  the  Apostles  as 
dangerous  fanatics;  he  thought  they  were  men 
who  were  mistaken  and  leading  others  astray :  he 
feared  that  their  teaching  would  encourage  dis- 
affection to  the  Roman  rule,  and  yet  he  insisted 
that  this  mistaken  conviction  should  be  respected. 
Had  they  merely  insisted  on  following  their  own 
judgment,  and  backed  it  up  by  an  assertion  of 
opinions,  there  would  have  been  no  reason  for 
allowing  them  to  defy  a  human  tribunal;  but 
they  claimed  to  have  a  message  from  God.  Since 
there  was  no  definite  test  which  could  be  applied 
there  and  then,  to  distinguish  true  and  false  pro- 
phets1, they  might  conceivably  be  justified.  Re- 
frain from  these  men,  and  let  them  alone :  for  if  this 
1  Deut.  xviii.  21,  22. 


Religious  Conviction  21 

counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought : 
but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it ;  lest  haply 
ye  be  found,  to  fight  against  God.  There  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  any  element  of  self-assertion 
in  the  Apostles'  attitude;  there  was  no  self- 
assertion  towards  God,  for  they  were  eager  to 
deliver  His  message  in  spite  of  all  the  dangers 
they  might  incur:  there  was  no  self-assertion 
against  human  authority,  for  they  were  ready  to 
submit  to  any  hardships  or  shame  they  might 
incur  in  doing  their  duty ;  and  they  made  no  at- 
tempt to  resist  or  to  disparage  civil  authority,  as 
fanatics  like  Theudas  had  done.  Their  conduct 
was  governed  throughout  by  a  sense  of  duty  to 
God  and  duty  to  man ;  and  this  marks  them  out 
from  some  of  the  Conscientious  Objectors  of  the 
present  day  who  seem  to  glory  in  the  vehemence 
of  their  self-assertion :  a  strong  personal  opinion, 
which  is  not  coupled  with  a  sense  of  duty  to  God, 
has  not  a  claim  to  the  respect  which  was  accorded 
to  the  Apostles.  Those  who  defy  the  demands  of 
the  society  in  which  they  live  are  hardly  justified 
in  expecting  that  continued  protection  of  life  and 
property  shall  be  afforded  them,  and  those  who 
attempt  to  justify  such  conduct  are  in  danger  of 
being  taken  for  mere  anarchists. 


III.     THE    SECRET    OF    HUMAN 
PROGRESS 

i.  The  religious  convictions  of  the  Christian 
man  have  the  highest  degree  of  certainty  for  him ; 
he  is  sure  that  he  has  sinned,  and  sure  too  of  the 
reality  of  God's  forgiving  Love;  he  has  also  a 
sense  of  obligation  to  live  up  to  his  divine  voca- 
tion. But  yet  he  cannot  claim  any  personal 
immunity  from  misconception  and  error.  What 
reason  has  he  for  thinking  that  what  is  to  him  a 
matter  of  certainty  is  really  true?  The  most 
complete  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  his  convic- 
tion is  given  him  when  he  finds  that  it  holds  good 
when  he  acts  upon  it1,  and  that  similar  beliefs 
appeal  to  other  minds  with  the  same  intensity; 
but  those,  who  recognise  the  reality  of  the  spiritual, 
can  see  some  confirmation  of  their  belief,  in  the 
traces  of  its  power  which  they  find  in  every 
department  of  human  affairs. 

It  is  important  that  we  should  bear  in  mind 
the  precise  cogency  of  arguments  in  regard  to  the 
spiritual  which  are  drawn  from  external  conditions 

1  S.  John  vii.  17. 


The  Secret  of  Human  Progress      23 

and  secular  affairs.  We  cannot  by  searching  find 
out  God ;  spiritual  things  must  be  spiritually  dis- 
cerned. There  can  be  no  demonstration,  from 
our  knowledge  of  the  external  world,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  God,  or  the  immortality  of  the  soul :  ex- 
ternal observation  and  experiment  do  not  afford 
a  foundation  on  which  knowledge  of  the  spiritual 
can  be  built.  But  though  external  observations 
do  not  demonstrate  any  proposition  about  the 
spiritual  and  eternal,  we  may  find  in  them  con- 
firmation of  what  we  know  from  personal  con- 
viction. The  apologists  of  the  eighteenth  century 
argued  from  the  truths  of  natural  religion  to  the 
credibility  of  revealed  religion ;  but  it  can  no 
longer  be  assumed  that  natural  religion  is  uni- 
versally accepted  by  thinking  men.  We  shall  find 
ourselves  in  closer  accord  with  apostolic  usage, 
and  with  Scripture,  if  we  take  our  stand  on  the 
certainty  of  religious  conviction,  and  look  merely 
for  confirmation  to  the  external  world  and  the 
course  of  secular  affairs.  We  may  trace  contri- 
butions which  seem  to  have  been  made  by  religion, 
— that  is  by  the  human  consciousness  of  relations 
with  God — towards  the  progress  of  mankind,  I 
both  intellectually,  in  helping  us  to  understand 
what  is  otherwise  unintelligible,  and  morally  in 
the  improvement  of  the  relations  of  men  with  one 
another.  On  behalf  of  religion  it  may  be  claimed, 
with  much  probability,  that  it  has  initiated,  and 


24      The  Secret  of  Human  Progress 

inspired  human  progress;  and  at  all  events  it 
renders  intelligible  what  would  be  inexplicable  if 
human  beings  were  wholly  controlled  by  external 
forces  and  human  society  were  a  mere  mechanism. 

2.  The  conviction  of  sin  and  the  sense  of  for- 
giveness imply  a  belief  in  the  trustworthiness  of 
God  such  as  is  ascribed  to  Abraham :  the  belief  in 
Him  as  the  keeper  of  His  Covenant  underlies  the 
whole  worship  and  the  code  of  the  Old  Testament ; 
and  it  was  the  reiterated  complaint  of  the  pro- 
phets that  the  people  had  failed  miserably  in  keep- 
ing their  own  side  of  the  Covenant  while  God  had 
been  true  to  His.  This  belief  in  the  reliability  of 
God  has  at  all  events  a  counterpart  in  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  uniformity  of  nature,  which  is  the 
fundamental  assumption  of  all  empirical  science. 
Without  this  necessary  assumption  systematic 
experiment  would  be  futile;  and  the  acceptance 
of  this  principle  has  been  the  greatest  possible 
help  to  the  co-ordination  of  our  observations  and 
the  interpretation  of  nature.  But  if  the  religious 
belief  is  left  out  of  account,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
see  whence  this  principle  can  have  been  derived; 
it  is  by  no  means  axiomatic1  and  it  could  hardly 
arise  from  mere  observation,  as  it  seems  quite 
inconsistent  with  human  experience  of  the  vari- 
ableness of  nature,  especially  of  tropical  nature. 
1  J.  Ward,  Realm  of  Ends,  12. 


The  Secret  of  Human  Progress     25 

Monotheism  and  the  belief  in  the  uniformity  of 
nature  are  closely  associated;  and  it  is  at  least 
possible  that  the  religious  belief  was  anterior  to 
the  scientific  principle,  and  that  the  whole  body 
of  empirical  science  is  a  confirmation  in  the  sphere 
of  external  experience,  of  the  validity  of  what 
was  originally  a  theological  belief.  At  any  rate 
the  consonance  of  a  theological  belief  with  a 
fundamental  axiom  of  empirical  science  goes  to 
show  that  we  are  not  justified  in  separating  our 
knowledge  of  the  spiritual  and  of  the  secular 
absolutely,  as  if  they  were  entirely  distinct  and 
had  nothing  to  do  with  one  another,  but  that 
these  departments  of  knowledge  are  closely  inter- 
connected, and  interact. 

3.  Something  similar  may  be  felt  in  regard  to 
human  morality:  there  has  been  progress  from 
the  purely  savage  state :  there  is  more  security 
for  individual  life  and  property,  and  co-operation 
for  social  objects.  But  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
this  could  have  arisen  or  been  encouraged :  it  is  not 
easy  to  account  for  the  conjunction  of  self-sacrifice 
and  self-development  in  the  moral  aim1,  or  to  ex- 
plain the  sense  of  obligation,  which  is  an  element  in 
the  doing  of  duty.  The  controlling  and  the  trans- 
forming of  the  primitive  motives  are  inexplicable. 
The  difficulty  disappears  if  we  recognise  how 

1  D'Arcy,  God  and  Freedom,  215. 


26      The  Secret  of  Human  Progress 

widespread  has  been  the  belief  in  a  divine  pur- 
pose, and  the  conviction  of  an  obligation  to  fulfil 
it.  This  belief  gives  the  means  of  distinguishing 
between  right  and  wrong,  both  in  the  world  at 
large,  and  in  individual  lives ;  and  not  only  does 
it  give  an  intellectual  means  of  discrimination,  it 
provides  a  motive  power.  If  we  believe  that  God 
has  a  purpose  for  the  world  at  large,  then  each 
nation  has  a  mission — like  Israel  of  old — to  main- 
tain the  knowledge  of  God  in  the  world,  and  to 
exercise  national  influence  and  power  as  a  trust 
from  Him.  The  same  religious  principle  that 
can  be  appealed  to,  in  regard  to  great  communities 
and  their  relations  to  one  another,  also  applies  to 
the  personal  life  and  to  individual  conduct.  The 
religious  recognition  of  God's  purpose  renders  the 
sense  of  obligation  and  the  progress  of  morality 
intelligible;  we  are  not  forced  to  try  and  derive 
them  from  the  struggle  for  existence  and  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest.  The  close  connection  between 
the  spiritual  and  the  secular,  and  the  importance 
of  the  spiritual  as  rendering  progress  in  the  secular 
sphere  intelligible,  perhaps  in  rendering  it  possible, 
is  thus  confirmed  from  another  side. 

4.     The  origin  of  the  sense  of  beauty  and  of 
canons  of  taste  is  also  mysterious1,  but  it  seems 
that  religion  is  capable  of  calling  forth  and  stimu- 
1  A.  J.  Balfour,  Theism  and  Humanism,  59. 


The  Secret  of  Human  Progress     27 

lating  artistic  activities.  The  religious  mind  de- 
sires to  pay  homage  to  the  Ruler  of  All,  to  offer 
the  richest  and  best  he  can  in  token  of  homage; 
the  desire  to  render  a  worthy  offering  is  a 
constant  stimulus  to  the  craftsman.  There  is  a 
religious  side  to  the  appreciation  of  beauty; 
Ruskin  has  described  the  artistic  impulse  as  the 
expression  of  man's  delight  in  God's  work ;  and 
much  of  the  wealth  and  the  skill  that  have  been 
spent  on  building  temples,  or  on  statuary  or  pic- 
torial art,  has  had  a  religious  aim.  The  desire  to 
offer  the  best  to  God  is  an  outcome  of  religious 
devotion ;  it  has  helped  to  redeem  human  crafts- 
manship from  a  mechanical  character,  and  to 
give  fresh  inspiration  from  age  to  age. 

There  is  no  side  of  human  activity  which  is 
alien  to  religion,  and  religious  belief  accounts  for 
the  fundamental  assumptions  which  give  a  basis 
for  the  progress  of  knowledge ;  it  accounts  for  an 
improving  standard  of  conduct  and  for  the  growth 
of  skill  and  taste.  Just  because  this  principle  is 
spiritual,  it  does  not  merely  serve  to  analyse  the 
progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  past :  there 
is  no  finality  about  it,  and  it  gives  us  the  hope  of 
an  indefinite  progress  which  need  never  come  to 
an  end.  The  spiritual  has  been  externalised,  and 
has  shown  its  influence  in  things  around  us :  we 
cannot  regard  religious  conviction  as  merely  a 
matter  of  our  own  personal  certainty,  when  its 


28      The  Secret  of  Human  Progress 

power  and  influence  are  confirmed  in  the  institu- 
tions of  the  highest  races  and  the  progress  of 
mankind. 

After  all,  it  is  in  the  increased  diffusion  and 
intensity  of  spiritual  power  in  the  world,  that  we 
have  the  fullest  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
religious  convictions  in  the  world  within.  The 
conception  of  saintliness,  and  of  the  means  for 
obtaining  it  have  altered ;  we  no  longer  think  of 
it  as  necessarily  requiring  the  withdrawal  from 
secular  affairs,  or  look  for  it  in  moments  of  devout 
contemplation,  but  as  the  constant  hallowing  of 
the  whole  life  in  all  its  activities  and  under  any 
circumstances.  It  is  also  noticeable  that  religion 
has  grown  as  a  power  in  the  world  with  the  growth 
of  society.  The  faith  of  Abraham  was  mani- 
fested by  occasional  incidents,  and  self-forgetful 
sacrifice;  but  the  ideals  of  Christianity  are  ac- 
cepted as  furnishing  worthy  conceptions  for 
.human  conduct  in  all  the  relations  of  our  compli- 
cated social  system.  There  are  few  who  believe 
that  they  have  got  beyond  Christian  ideals  or 
repudiate  them  altogether,  and  they  win  intel- 
lectual approval  from  multitudes  who  make  little 
attempt  to  put  them  in  practice. 

5.  Spiritual  experience  and  influence  have 
been  recorded  in  literature  and  in  history.  We 
have  the  records  of  personal  religious  experience 


The  Secret  of  Human  Progress     29 

in  the  psalms  and  prophets  and  in  all  devout 
literature ;  but  this  cannot  be  interpreted  hastily  ; 
there  is  need  of  insight  to  discern  its  full  import. 
What  Harnack  said  of  Our  Lord's  spiritual  ex- 
perience is  true  in  degree  of  others  who  have  been 
charged  with  a  divine  revelation.  "  No  one  could 
fathom  this  mystery  who  had  not  had  a  parallel 
experience1/'  Those  who  have  never  had  re4 
ligious  experience  of  their  own,  can  hardly  hope,\ 
with  the  help  of  a  dictionary  and  a  grammar,  \ 
to  appreciate  the  religious  experience  of  others.  j 
But  even  without  comprehending  it  fully  we  can  | 
note  its  effectiveness.  Incidents,  as  recorded  in 
Hebrews  xi.  and  in  the  history  of  every  age,  will 
help  us  to  see  the  power  of  religious  conviction  as 
determining  human  action  and  moulding  human 
society.  And  these  phenomena,  like  other  phe- 
nomena, become  the  subject  of  study:  we  can 
bring  our  intelligence  to  bear  upon  them,  and 
analyse,  and  discuss,  and  interpret.  We  find  in 
them  material  for  thoughts  about  God,  and  about 
God's  relation  to  Man;  we  can  get  clear  state- 
ments as  to  the  religious  experience  of  the  past,  and 
draw  out  what  it  implies  and  means.  Thoughts 
about  God  can  never  have  the  vividness  of  per- 
sonal experience ;  but  in  so  far  as  they  stimulate 
the  attempt  to  live  more  closely  in  accord  with 
God's  will,  they  are  to  be  cherished. 

1  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?,  129. 


30      The  Secret  of  Human  Progress 

It  is  indeed  true  that  a  survey  of  religious 
beliefs  in  the  past  is  too  often  apt  to  be  depress- 
ing; to  recall  to  us  superstitions  which  we  have 
outgrown,  and  practices  which  we  condemn  as 
immoral.  "  The  reflective  student  of  the  history  of 
human  knowledge  is  apt  to  receive  an  overwhelm- 
ing impression  of  the  instability  of  opinion,  of  the 
mutability  of  beliefs,  of  the  vicissitudes  of  science, 
in  short  of  the  impermanence  of  what  is,  or  passes 
for,  truth1/'  But  this  need  not  disconcert  us  when 
we  realise  that  the  process  of  growth  implies  the 
discarding  of  what  has  served  its  purpose.  As 
Dr  Schiller  excellently  says,  "There  is  not  the 
slightest  reason  why  the  steady  flow  of  the  stream 
of  '  truths '  that  pass  away  should  fill  us  with  dis- 
may. That  a  '  truth '  should  turn  out  '  false '  is  a 
calamity  only  if  we  are  unable  to  supplant  it  by 
a  'truer. '...We  are  enabled  to  declare  an  old 
'truth'  'false'  because  we  are  able  to  find  a  new 
one  which  more  than  fills  its  place.  We  do  not 
discard  a  valuable  and  serviceable  conception  until 
we  have  something  more  valuable  and  convenient 
...  to  serve  us  in  its  stead2."  We  may  always 
hope  for  better  guidance  in  our  efforts  to  draw 
nigh  to  God  and  to  give  effect  to  His  will.  This 
progress  is  exemplified  in  religious,  as  well  as  in 
other  knowledge;  in  expressing  religious  experi- 

1  F.  C.  S.  Schiller,  Studies  in  Humanism,  204. 

2  Ibid.  211. 


The  Secret  of  Human  Progress     3 1 

ence  and  formulating  religious  opinions,  men  must 
make  use  of  the  intellectual  habits  and  current 
phraseology  of  their  own  time ;  they  can  never 
escape  the  temporary  altogether,  or  take  account 
by  anticipation  of  the  experience  of  coming  gene- 
rations. That  which  we  have  outlived  was  a 
power  in  its  own  time,  and  endured  as  an  in- 
spiring influence  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period. 
S.  Augustine's  vision  of  a  City  of  God  dominated 
Christian  thought  for  fourteen  hundred  years1; 
while  on  the  other  hand  S.  Bernard's  plea  for 
consecrated  w^trfaTe^id  little  either  to  extend 
the  limits  or  invigorate  ^ke  life  of  Christendom. 
The  ideal  which  S.  Francis  cherished^ioTTiot 
obtain  such  a  hold  upon  the  order  he  founded  as 
to  be  an  abiding  spiritual  influence.  These  were 
inspiring  efforts  for  a  time,  but  not  for  all  time :  it 
is  the  unique  personality  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
which  has  a  regenerating  power  that  is  as  potent  in 
all  lands  and  for  all  ages  as  it  was  at  first-in  Galilee. 
The  formulating  and  discussing  the  thoughts 
about  God  which  are  implied  in  Christian  experi- 
ence, have  the  highest  importance,  in  order  that 
the  full  inspiring  force,  the  full  guidance  which 
they  afford  may  be  preserved2;  but  such  study 

1  Cunningham,  Christianity  and  Politics,  65. 

2  The  importance  of  the  Arian  controversy,  with  all 
its  subtleties,  is  seen  when  we  realise  its  result  in  preserving 
the  effectiveness  of  Christianity  as  an  ethical  influence. 
Gwatkin,  The  Knowledge  of  God,  n.  112. 


32      The  Secret  of  Human  Progress 

is  at  best  only  a  preliminary  to  the  increase  of 
true  religion.  We  can  see  the  distinction  if  we 
recall  what  was  happening  in  England  two  cen- 
turies ago.  The  discussion  of  religious  problems, 
the  official  presentation  of  religious  truth  had 
been  pursued  with  great  assiduity :  the  preachers 
who  dealt  with  these  topics  had  large  congrega- 
tions; Stillingfleet  and  Tillotson  and  Barrow 
were  intellectual  leaders,  and  Christianity  was  in 
possession.  Yet  this  academic  Christianity  seemed 
hardly  to  touch  life,  and  to  have  little  influence 
on  religion.  It  was  from  the  preaching  of  John 
Wesley  that  the  great  religious  movement  of  the 
eighteenth  century  started.  To  those  who  were 
satisfied  with  the  official  presentation  of  Chris- 
tianity, this  movement  seemed  unnecessary, 
while  the  vagaries  associated  with  it  were  re- 
pellent to  the  sober  minded;  and  yet  it  revo- 
lutionised the  religious  condition  of  English- 
speaking  peoples.  Wesley  insisted  that  religion 
was  not  to  be  merely  the  acceptance  of  Christian 
doctrines  as  formulated  by  others,  but  the  outcome 
of  personal  experience.  He  was  not  concerned 
with  the  formulating  of  Christian  truth,  he  busied 
himself  about  the  intensity  with  which  it  was  held. 
He  felt  that  the  Love  of  God  should  not  only  be 
accepted  at  secondhand  as  true  for  all  the  world, 
but  known  as  a  personal  conviction  by  those  who 
had  tasted  for  themselves  that  God  is  good. 


The  Secret  of  Human  Progress     33 

This  is  the  aim  we  should  set  before  us  in 
endeavouring  to  promote  the  increase  of  true 
religion  to-day.  There  has  been  abundance  of 
the  official  presentation  of  Christian  truth,  but 
there  is  need  that  men  should  not  only  accept  it, 
but  feel  its  power  themselves;  and  a  ministry 
which  fails  to  try  and  meet  this  need  is  in  danger 
of  failing  to  promote  God's  work  in  the  world. 


c  i. 


IV.     THE    ATTRACTIVE    POWER 
OF   PERSONALITY 

i .  There  are  close  analogies  between  the  growth 
of  animal  life,  and  the  development  of  spiritual 
life;  and  just  as  it  is  said  that  the  individual 
goes  through  stages  of  development  that  corre- 
spond to  those  which  can  be  distinguished  in  the 
progress  of  the  species  as  a  whole,  so  is  it  true  that 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  Christian  man  reproduces 
the  main  stages  in  the  development  of  religious  life 
in  the  world.  The  recognition  of  the  Divine  horror 
of  sin  which  was  set  forth  at  Sinai,  ought  to  have 
a  place  in  the  personal  religious  life  of  the  Chris- 
tian man ;  but  after  all  there  is  a  contrast  between 
the  two  dispensations1.  The  great  feature  which 
distinguished  the  gospel  as  first  preached  from 
contemporary  religions  was  its  attractive  power. 
I  if  I  be  lifted  up  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.  The 
Old  Dispensation  had  been  chiefly  concerned  with 
prohibitions  and  the  penalties  that  enforced  them ; 
it  told  of  the  thunderings  of  Sinai,  and  appealed 
to  the  fear  of  punishment  as  the  chief  means  of 

1  Heb.  xii.  18. 


Attractive  Power  of  Personality     35 

securing  the  national  religion.  This  element  still 
survives  among  us;  to  prohibit  what  is  evil,  or 
what  tends  to  evil,  and  to  appeal  to  the  fear  of 
punishment  is  the  best  the  State  can  do1.  But 
Christianity  has  a  far  more  effective  weapon  in 
her  armoury;  she  won  her  way  at  first  by  pre- 
senting the  express  image  of  the  Divine  to  men, 
and  relying  on  this  attractive  power.  The  gospel 
sets  before  us  the  conception  of  perfect  good — of" 
a  perfectly  good  Will;  and  Christianity  seeks  to 
make  this  Will  prevail  and  to  realise  God's  pui[- 
pose.  This  can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  aip 
tractive  power  which  the  love  of  the  good  exeif- 
cises  on  human  hearts,  so  that  human  wills  ma^ 
be  moulded  more  and  more  after  the  likeness  of 
the  Divine  Will :  it  may  thus  produce  not  merely 
an  external  conformity,  which  is  all  that  the  feajt: 
of  punishment  can  accomplish,  but  hearty  col 
operation  in  striving  to  attain  that  which  is  best] 
Christ  relied  on  this  attractive  power  as  none 
of  the  great  religious  teachers  of  Israel  had  done 
before ;  and  S.  Paul  was  carefully  on  his  guard  lest 
any  triviality  of  habit  or  temperament  should 
offend  his  hearers  so  that  they  should  not  feel  the 
attractive  power  of  the  message  he  had  to  give. 
He  would  not  be  dependent  on  his  hearers  for 
bodily  sustenance,  lest  he  should  hinder  the  gospel 

1  Cunningham,  British  Citizens  and  their  responsibility  to 
God,  37. 

3—2 


36     Attractive  Power  of  Personality 

of  Christ.  To  the  Jews  he  became  as  a  Jew  that 
he  might  gain  the  Jews,  and  to  the  weak  became 
he  as  weak  that  he  might  gain  the  weak.  /  am 
made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  might  by  all  means 
save  some.  And  this  I  do  for  the  gospel's  sake,  that 
I  might  be  partaker  thereof  with  you. 

2.  S.  Paul  insists  again  and  again  that  he 
could  do  nothing  by  himself,  but  that  the  blessing 
of  God's  Spirit  was  essential  if  there  were  to  be 
any  result  of  all  his  labours ;  and  this  is  as  true 
to-day  as  it  was  long  ago.  The  appeal  of  God's 
Love  seeks  for  a  personal  response;  there  must 
be  a  change  in  the  man  himself,  his  habits  of 
thought,  and  feeling,  and  willing ;  and  no  human 
effort  can  ensure  that  the  gospel  message  shall 
take  hold  of  the  heart  and  quicken  men  to  yield 
themselves  to  its  influence.  Human  gifts  and 
eloquence  can  indeed  rouse  curiosity  and  interest : 
there  are  many  men  who  are  interested  in  all  that 
concerns  humanity,  who  wish  to  know  about  the 
habits  of  theological  thought  which  prevailed  in 
bygone  days,  and  the  noblest  hopes  which  men 
have  cherished  for  themselves;  but  the  gospel 
message  misses  its  mark,  if  it  only  provides  intel- 
lectual satisfaction  or  artistic  pleasure  as  a  very 
lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and 
can  play  well  upon  an  instrument.  It  is  only 
through  God's  blessing  that  the  word  spoken  by 


Attractive  Power  of  Personality     37 

human  lips  has  power  to  attract.  This  essential 
condition  must  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  are 
considering  how  the  ministers  and  stewards  of 
God's  Mysteries  may  best  discharge  their  respon- 
sibility for  the  cure  of  the  souls  committed  to 
them,  and  endeavour  to  make  the  attractive 
power  of  Christ's  gospel  felt. 

3.  Plainly  it  is  their  first  duty  to  provide  the 
opportunities  in  which  Christ  will  make  the  at- 
tractive power  of  His  personality  felt  through  the 
means  which  He  Himself  has  instituted.  "  Where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name  there 
am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." ..."  He  that  eateth  my 
flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me,  and  I 
in  him."  He  has  ordained  a  perpetual  memorial 
of  His  precious  death  that  we  might  offer  our 
humble  and  hearty  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  "for 
the  redemption  of  the  world  by  the  death  and 
passion  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  both  God  and  Man ; 
who  did  humble  Himself,  even  to  the  death  upon 
the  Cross,  for  us,  miserable  sinners,  who  lay  in  dark- 
ness and  the  shadow  of  death ;  that  He  might  make 
us  the  children  of  God,  and  exalt  us  to  everlasting 
life.  And  to  the  end  that  we  should  alway  remem- 
ber the  exceeding  great  love  of  our  Master,  and  only 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  thus  dying  for  us, ...  He  hath 
instituted  and  ordained  holy  mysteries,  as  pledges 
of  His  love,  and  for  a  continual  remembrance  of  His 


38     Attractive  Power  of  Personality 

death/'  He  gives  us  the  opportunity  of  offering 
ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies  to  God,  in  union 
with  His  own  sacrifice  of  Himself,  and  of  entering 
into  closest  communion  with  Him  in  His  thoughts 
and  desires,  at  the  supreme  moment  of  His  earthly 
life. 

4.  The  Love  of  God  and  its  attractive 
power  are  also  displayed,  though  less  clearly,  in 
the  records  of  those  who  have  felt  its  influence 
powerfully  in  the  past.  From  their  experience, 
as  recorded  in  the  Bible,  we  can  gather  what  God 
has  done,  and  since  He  is  eternally  the  same, 
what  He  can  and  will  do,  for  us  and  in  us.  The 
steward  of  the  heavenly  Mysteries  can  draw  from 
the  treasure  committed  to  him  things  both  new 
and  old;  but  he  has  need  of  discretion  to  lay 
stress  on  that  which  best  sets  forth  the  attractive 
power  of  the  Love  of  God.  The  Bible  is  a  record 
of  God's  dealings  with  mankind :  much  of  it  tells 
of  the  discipline  He  exercised  on  the  nation,  and 
of  the  fear  He  inspired  that  He  might  mould  the 
people  of  Israel  to  be  His  witness  in  the  world. 
But  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  do  not  now 
appeal  to  us  personally  most  strongly  as  the  his- 
tory of  a  nation  in  a  distant  past,  but  as  a  gallery 
of  portraits  which  set  God  before  us  as  a  living 
power,  calling  men  to  be  His  conscious  instruments 
in  the  training  of  the  world.  "  The  history  which 


Attractive  Power  of  Personality     39 

concerns  us  is  the  history  of  self-conscious  person- 
alities, and  of  communities  which  are  (in  a  sense) 
self-conscious  also1."  The  more  we  can  penetrate 
through  the  writings  which  have  come  down  to  us, 
to  the  spiritual  experience  and  personal  character 
of  the  men  whose  utterances  are  recorded,  the  more 
shall  we  find  something  to  which  we  can  person- 
ally respond.  Those  who  have  a  real  appreci- 
ation of  the  spiritual  have  insight  to  discern  what 
may  be  discarded  without  loss.  Much  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  taken  up  with  accounts  of  the  occa- 
sions which  called  forth  the  utterances  of  the 
prophets,  and  the  appreciation  they  received :  but 
that  has  ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  living  interest 
to  many  of  us,  for  it  has  little  abiding  influ- 
ence on  our  own  lives.  The  credentials  which 
Moses  offered  to  Pharaoh  of  his  claim  to  speak  in 
God's  name  were  of  supreme  importance  at  the 
time,  but  they  do  not  greatly  concern  us  now; 
and  even  in  the  Epistles  we  find  much  that  has 
little  value  for  us.  The  apostolic  injunctions  as 
to  meats  offered  to  idols  tell  of  a  time  of  tran- 
sition in  heathen  lands,  but  they  have  little  direct 
teaching  for  us  in  the  present  day.  The  more  the 
Christian  minister  can  concentrate  attention  on 
the  spiritual  power,  which  worked  in  human  lives 
in  the  past,  the  more  can  he  hope  to  attract  men 
to  recognise  its  influence  to-day. 

1  A.  J.  Balfour,  Theism  and  Humanism,  89. 


40     Attractive  Power  of  Personality 

5.  The  Christian  man  may  draw  much  en- 
couragement from  finding  that  he  can  sympathise 
with  the  struggles  and  the  spiritual  experience  of 
Israelites  in  the  distant  past.     These  things  are 
written  for  our  learning,  that  by  patience  and  comfort 
of  the  scriptures  we  may  have  hope.     But  the  under- 
standing will  be  closer,  the  sympathy  more  inti- 
mate, with  those  who  have  shared  in  the  Christian 
faith,  and  have  cherished  the  Christian  hope.   They 
have  felt  the  attractive  power  of  God's  love  to 
mankind,  as  it  is  fully  manifested  by  our  Lord 
Jesus    Christ.     Each   Saint's    Day    as   it    comes 
brings  before  us  some  aspect  of  the  Divine  Power 
which  is  associated  with  one  particular  name; 
and  some  there  be  which  have  no  memorial.     On 
All  Saints'  Day  we  may  each  commemorate  the 
friends  whose  struggles  and  difficulties  we  have 
most  fully  understood,  most  intimately  shared; 
and  who  have  departed  this  life  in  God's  faith 
and  fear :  by  their  good  example  they  have  left  us 
encouragement;   and  the  hope  of  rejoining  them 
gives  definite  shape  to  the  aspiration  to  be  par- 
takers in  God's  heavenly  kingdom. 

6.  There  is  indeed  a  danger  of  treating  this 
intimate  sympathy  as  not  merely  inclusive,  but 
also  as  exclusive,  and  of  limiting  our  sense  of 
Christian  fellowship  to  those  whose  experience  is 
precisely  similar  to  our  own.     It  seems  in  looking 


Attractive  Power  of  Personality     41 

back,  as  if  Wesley  had  not  been  sensitive  to  this 
danger,  and  had  encouraged  the  formation  of 
classes  in  which  precisely  similar  experience  was 
taken  as  a  test  of  the  reality  of  religion.  The  value 
of  Christian  fellowship  should  never  be  under- 
rated :  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to 
another ;  but  there  is  a  danger  lest  we  should  take 
our  own  experience  as  the  type  of  what  Christian 
experience  ought  to  be,  and  refuse  to  associate 
with  any  but  the  likeminded.  The  Church  is  not 
a  mere  association  which  some  leader  has  gathered 
round  himself ;  it  has  been  built  once  for  all  on  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus 
Christ  being  the  chief  corner  stone.  There  has 
been  a  wonderful  variety  of  condition  and  tem- 
perament among  all  the  members  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  which  is  the  organised  body  of 
Christian  experience:  it  is  well  to  be  ready  to 
learn  from  each  and  all  who  profess  and  call 
themselves  Christians,  and  to  try  to  enter  into 
their  inner  lives.  It  is  by  the  variety  of  the 
Christian  lives  that  have  been  led,  at  sundry  times 
and  in  divers  places,  that  we  may  find  help  and 
encouragement  for  the  varied  circumstances  of 
our  lives,  so  that  the  body  of  Christ  may  per- 
petuate the  different  aspects  of  His  character 
through  all  the  ages.  And  here  we  see  the  real 
nature  of  the  Church — not  a  body  of  likeminded 
men  who  will  only  have  fellowship  with  men  of 

3—5 


42     Attractive  Power  of  Personality 

the  same  type — but  a  body  founded  by  Christ,  of 
which  it  is  the  function  to  form  individual  men 
and  women  more  and  more  after  His  image,  so 
that  they  may  each  attain  to  the  closest  relation- 
ship with  their  heavenly  Father.  The  Church 
has  been  entrusted  with  the  means  of  moulding 
the  character  of  even  the  holiest  men  more  nearly 
on  the  Divine  model. 

Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which 
is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ;  and  since,  as  we 
look  back,  we  recognise  how  often  wood,  hay 
and  stubble  have  been  built  upon  it,  we  should 
take  the  more  heed  how  we  build;  since  it  is  for 
us  to  find  the  material  which  is  best  fitted  not 
only  to  edify  our  own  personal  life,  but  to  raise 
a  living  Temple  that  shall  endure  from  genera- 
tion to  generation. 


BOOKS  AND  PAPERS,  CHIEFLY  ON  RELIGIOUS 
SUBJECTS,  AND  SERMONS  BY  DR  CUNNINGHAM 

The  Influence  of  Descartes  on  metaphysical  specula- 
tion in  England.  8vo.  pp.  xlviii  +  185.  Mac- 
millan  and  Co.,  1876. 

A  Dissertation  on  the  Epistle  of  S.  Barnabas,  in- 
cluding a  discussion  of  its  date  and  authorship. 
(Hulsean  Essay.)  Cr.  8vo.  pp.  cxvii  +  130. 
Macmillan  and  Co.,  1877. 

Christian  Civilisation,  with  special  reference  to  India » 
(Maitland  Essay.)  8vo.  pp.  vii  +  152.  Mac- 
millan and  Co.,  1880. 

The  Churches  of  Asia  ;  a  methodical  study  of  the 
second  century.  Cr.  8vo.  pp.  xvi  +  299.  (Kaye 
Essay.)  Macmillan  and  Co.,  1880. 
*  Christian  Opinion  on  Usury,  with  special  reference  to 
England.  (B.D.  degree  thesis.)  Cr.  8vo.  pp. 
x  +  84.  Macmillan  and  Co.,  1884. 

5.  Austin,  and  his  place  in  the  History  of  Christian 
Thought.  (Hulsean  Lectures.)  Demy  8vo.  pp. 
xiii  +  283.  Cambridge  University  Press,  1886. 
*The  Path  towards  Knowledge  ;  discourses  on  some  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  day.  Cr.  8vo.  pp.  viii  + 
241.  Methuen  and  Co.,  1891. 

The  Gospel  of  Work ;  four  lectures  delivered  at 
the  Cambridge  Summer  Meeting  1902.  8vo. 
pp.  xiv  +  144.  Cambridge  University  Press. 

Publications  marked  thus  *  are  also  contained  in  the 
list  of  books  on  Economic  Science  Subjects  in  Progress 
of  Capitalism,  p.  136, 


44       Books  and  Papers,  chiefly  on 

The  Cure  of  Souls  ;  lectures  on  Pastoral  Theology. 
Cr.  8vo.  pp.  x  +  236.  Cambridge  University 
Press,  1908. 

Editor  of  the  Official  Report  of  Pan-Anglican  Con- 
gress, Section  B,  Christian  Truth  and  other  In- 
tellectual Forces.     8vo.     S.P.C.K.  1908. 
*  Christianity  and  Social  Questions.     Cr.  8vo.  pp.  xi  + 

232.     Duckworth,  1910. 
Efficiency  in  the  Church  of  England,     pp.  x  +  129. 

John  Murray,  1912. 
*Christianity   and   Economic   Science.     Cr.    8vo.    pp. 

viii  +  in.     John  Murray,  1914. 
* Christianity  and  Politics.     (Lowell  Lectures.)     8vo. 
pp.  xi  +  271.     John  Murray,  1916. 

PAPERS 

"Toleration,"  a  paper  read  to  the  Cambridge  Non- 
conformists Union  18  October,  1885,  in  the 
Methodist  Times,  5  and  12  November,  1885. 

"  Faith,"  a  Prelection  in  the  Arts  School,  2  June, 
1890,  in  the  Path  towards  Knowledge,  p.  115. 

A  Word  to  Church  Reformers,  a  speech  at  Ely  Dio- 
cesan Conference,  1901.  Macmillan  and  Bowes. 

"The  Reaction  of  Modern  Scientific  Thought  on 
Theological  Study,"  a  paper  read  to  the  Ely 
Diocesan  Society  of  Sacred  Studies,  1904,  in 
Journal  of  Theological  Studies,  v.  161. 

"The  Christian  Standpoint,"  in  Essays  on  some  Theo- 
logical Questions  of  the  Day,  by  Members  of 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  p.  i.  Macmillan, 
1905. 

"The  Confirmation  and  Defence  of  the  Faith,"  a 
paper  read  to  the  Salisbury  Diocesan  Society 
of  Sacred  Studies,  June  1907,  in  Journal  of 
Theological  Studies ,  ix.  p.  i. 


Religious  Subjects,  and  Sermons     45 

*The  Moral  Witness  of  the  Church  on  the  Investment 
and  Use  of  Wealth,  an  open  letter  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  Cambridge  University 
Press,  1909. 

Pros  and  Cons  of  the  Welsh  Church>  a  statement  pre- 
pared for  the  Cambridge  Church  Society.  Hall, 
1912. 

"The  Decadence  of  Cambridge  Theology,"  in  Satur- 
day Review,  13  April,  1912. 

*The  Causes  of  Labour  Unrest  and  the  Remedies  for  it, 
a  memorandum  prepared  for  the  Moral  Witness 
Committee  of  the  Convocation  of  the  Province 
of  Canterbury.  John  Murray,  1912. 

"The  Attitude  of  the  Church  towards  War,"  a 
memorandum  prepared  for  a  Committee  of  the 
Lower  House  of  the  Convocation  of  the  Pro- 
vince of  Canterbury  (1915),  in  Christianity  and 
Politics,  p.  249. 


ARCHIDIACONAL    CHARGES 

"Passive  Resistance"  (1907),  in  Cure  of  Souls,  p.  201. 

"The  duties  of  Churchwardens,"  in  Cambridge  Chron- 
icle, i  May,  1908. 

"Parochial  Charities,"  in  Cambridge  Chronicle,  7  May, 
1909. 

"The  Educational  Revolution  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century"  (1911),  in  Efficiency  in  the  Church  of 
England,  p.  121. 

"The  unwisdom  of  insufficient  Insurance,"  in  Cam- 
bridge Chronicle,  8  May,  1914. 

"The  division  of  the  Diocese,"  in  Cambridge  Chron- 
icle, 23  April,  1915. 


46       Books  and  Papers,  chiefly  on 


ADDRESSES    ON    VARIOUS    OCCASIONS 

The    Bengal   Famine,    Sunday    Afternoon   Lecture. 
S.  Bartholomew's,  Bradford,  Yorkshire.    Brear, 

,    l874' 
"Theism  and  Progress/'  Sunday  Afternoon  Lecture 

at  S.  Edmund's,  Northampton,  in  Northampton 

Mercury,  23  Dec.  1882,  Supplement. 
Oration,  at  the  Consecration  of  a  Masonic  Lodge  at 

Newmarket,  12  November,  1885,  in  Cambridge 

Chronicle,  20  November,  1885. 
"Moderation,"  E.C.U.  Anniversary  at  S.  Andrew's, 

Wells  St.,  W.,  1890,  in  The  Path  towards  Know- 
ledge, p.  236. 
Strikes,  at  S.  Martin's,  Leicester,  January  14,  1894, 

in  Publications  of  Church  Social  Union,  Boston, 

Mass.  B.  5. 
"Wages/'  in  Lombard  St.  in  Lent,  1894,  wrfcn  a  Pre~ 

face  by  Bishop  Westcott. 
"The  Sacredness  of  Property."     All  Saints',  Netting 

Hill,  28  May,  1894,  in  The  Church  of  the  People, 

with  a  preface  by  Bishop  Randall  Davidson. 
"Competition,"  S.  Martin's,   Leicester,  in  Leicester 

Daily  Post,  7  January,  1895. 
True  Womanhood,  six  sermons  in  S.  Andrew's,  Wells 

St.,  W.,  Lent  1896.     Swan  Sonnenschein  and  Co. 
"The  Consecration  of  Secular  Life,"  an  address  to 

the  Church  Social  Union,  Boston,  Mass.,  May 

1899,  in  The  Gospel  of  Work,  p.  127. 
"The  Consecration  of  Intellect,"  Harvard  University, 

1899,  in  The  Gospel  of  Work,  p.  137. 
"College  Life,"  Commemoration  of  Benefactors  at 

Gonville  &  Caius  College,  22  June,  1904,  in  The 

Cure  of  Souls,  p.  153. 


Religious  Subjects,  and  Sermons     47 

"Some  Differences  between  Scotch  and  English 
Christianity/'  a  paper  read  to  Cambridge  Ruri- 
decanal  Chapter,  December,  1904,  in  The  Cure  of 

Souls,  p.  212. 

"  The  Clergy  and  Party  Politics/'  read  at  Sion  College, 
3  October,  1906,  in  The  Cure  of  Souls,  p.  186. 

"The  Eternity  of  God/'  a  sermon  preached  in 
S.  Mary's,  Bury  St  Edmunds,  on  the  Sunday 
before  the  Bury  Pageant,  in  Church  Family 
Newspaper ,  12  July,  1907. 

"The  General  Election,"  S.  Andrew's,  Whittlesea, 
Church  of  England  Men's  Society,  in  Ely  Dio- 
cesan Remembrancer,  March,  1910. 

"The  National  Conscience,"  Trinity  College  Chapel, 
21  January,  1912,  in  Efficiency  in  Church  of 
England,  p.  92. 

"Biblical  Science  and  Preparation  for  the  Ministry," 
Trinity  College  Chapel,  in  Cambridge  Daily  News, 
19  November,  1912. 

"The  Co-operation  of  the  Church  with  the  State," 
S.  Mary-le-Tower,  Ipswich,  Church  of  England 
Men's  Society,  in  East  Anglian  Daily  Times, 
31  March,  1913. 

"Friendly  Societies  and  Character,"  Church  Parade 
of  A.M.C.  of  Manchester  Unity  of  Oddfellows, 
Aberystwyth,  1914,  in  Cambrian  News,  i  June, 
1914. 

"War  as  an  Ordeal,"  Christian  Social  Union,  Bow 
Church,  in  the  Challenge,  5  March,  1915. 

"Our  Duty  to  the  Belgians,"  Cambridge  Guildhall, 
in  Cambridge  Daily  News,  10  March,  1915. 

"Magna  Carta,"  S.  Mary-le-Tower,  Ipswich,  in  East 
Anglian  Daily  Times,  20  June,  1915. 

The  Flesh  and  the  Spirit,  at  Ely  Cathedral,  in  Guar- 
dian, 9  September,  1915. 


48       Books  and  Papers,  chiefly  on 

SERMONS  IN  GREAT  S.  MARY'S, 
CAMBRIDGE 

"Marriage  and  Population,"  Sunday  Evening  Lec- 
ture, 12  May,  1889,  in  The  Path  towards  Know- 
ledge, p.  3. 

" Charity,"  Crane  Commemoration,  1889,  in  The  Path 
towards  Knowledge,  p.  Si. 

"The  Law  of  the  Land  and  the  Duty  of  Civil  Obedi- 
ence," Sunday  Evening  Lecture,  26  January, 
1890,  in  The  Path  towards  Knowledge,  p.  213. 

'The  Presbyterians,"  Sunday  Evening  Lecture, 
2  November,  1890,  in  The  Path  towards  Know- 
ledge, p.  165. 

"The  Unitarians,"  Sunday  Evening  Lecture,  8  Feb- 
ruary, 1891,  in  The  Path  towards  Knowledge, 
p.  189. 

"A  United  Cambridge,"  preached  before  the  Mayor, 
T.  Hyde  Hills,  Esq.,  in  Cambridge  Independent 
Press,  1 6  November,  1894,  and  privately  printed. 

"The  Three  Witnesses,"  University  Sermon,  in  Cam- 
bridge Review,  4  June,  1896. 

"The  Defects  of  Paley,"  Sunday  Evening  Lecture, 
in  Cambridge  Review,  3  February,  1898. 

"Egoism  in  Political  Life,"  Chevin  Obit.,  22  Sep- 
tember, 1901,  in  The  Gospel  of  Work,  p.  121. 

Brotherly  Kindness  and  Charity,  Crane  Commemora- 
tion. Macmillan  and  Bowes,  1901. 

Christ's  Kingliness,  a  sermon  preached  before  the 
Mayor,  January  27,  1901,  on  the  Sunday  after 
the  Death  of  Queen  Victoria.  Macmillan  and 
Bowes. 

National  Intercession  and  National  Thanksgiving,  two 
sermons  on  February  8,  1900,  and  January  2, 
1902.  Macmillan  and  Bowes. 


Religious  Sub  fact s^  *dnd  \SerwQns.'.  ^  4$ 

Preparation  for  the  Cambridge  Mission,  Four  Advent 
Sermons,  in  Cambridge  Daily  News,  December 
i,  7,  15,  24,  1902. 

"The  Ministerial  Commission,"  University  Sermon^ 
21  February,  1904,  in  The  Cure  of  Souls,  p.  112. 

"England's  Mission/'  in  Cambridge  Chronicle,  4  Nov. 
1904. 

"The  Service  of  God  in  Church  and  State/'  Lady 
Margaret  Sermon,  1904,  in  The  Cure  of  Souls, 
p.  141. 

"Poverty  in  South  Africa/'  Crane  Commemoration, 
in  Cambridge  Daily  News,  10  October,  1905. 

"The  Centenary  of  Trafalgar,"  University  Sermon, 
1905,  in  The  Wisdom  of  the  Wise,  p.  91. 

The  Meaning  of  Religious  Education,  a  sermon 
preached  for  the  Old  Schools  of  Cambridge, 
30  December,  1906.  S.P.C.K. 

"Blended  Aims  in  Missionary  Work,"  Ramsden  Ser- 
mon, 1907,  in  The  Cure  of  Souls,  p.  127. 

"The  Dedication  of  the  Colours  of  the  Cambridge 
Volunteers,"  29  March,  1908,  in  Cambridge 
Chronicle,  3  April,  1908. 

"Farewell  Sermon,"  in  Cambridge  Chronicle,  27  Nov. 
1908. 

"Patriotism,"  Territorial  Church  Parade,  in  Cam- 
bridge Chronicle,  29  October,  1909. 

"The  Centenary  of  Friendly  Societies,"  Church 
Parade,  in  Cambridge  Chronicle,  14  October,  1910. 

"The  University  and  Commercial  Undertakings," 
University  Sermon,  18  June,  1911,  in  Efficiency 
in  Church  of  England,  p.  99. 

"Church  and  Dissent,"  Church  Society  Sermon, 
12  Oct.  1911,  in  Efficiency  in  Church  of  England, 
p.  in. 

"Impersonal  Religion,"  University  Sermon,  in  Cam- 
bridge Daily  News,  16  June,  1913. 


t  q,n'd  papers,  etc. 

"Regeneration  of  National  Character,"  Day  of  Inter- 
cession, 1915,  in  Cambridge  Daily  News,  4  Janu- 
ary, 1915. 

"The  German  Mind,"  Sunday  Evening  Address  on 
the  Archbishop's  Appeal,  in  Cambridge  Daily 
News,  7  June,  1915. 

*  British  Citizens  and  their  Responsibility  to  God. 
Sermons  in  preparation  for  the  National  Mis- 
sion, 1916.  S.P.C.K. 


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